Objective: Appreciate what geography is. (1A)

Unit 1 / Chapter 1 / Section 1

Pass out books but do not issue.

Discuss "The Five Themes of Geography" p.3

ACTIVITY: Mapping the Classroom

For our first mapping exercise, we'll start small- literally- by mapping the classroom. First we'll examine the room, and discuss the objects in it. Then we'll draw a map of the classroom on a large sheet of paper. We will have created our first map. The students can then develop a key to represent all of the objects in the room, and then they can make their own versions using their key.

Materials: Tape measures; paper; rulers; pencils; markers.

1. Students should measure the sizes of the classroom and sizes of a few major pieces of furniture.

2. The class should sit at theor desk with their paper. This paper represents the floor of the classroom and on it will be placed representations of the objects in the classroom. Mark the length and the width of the classroom.

3. Look around the room and discuss the objects in it. Which objects are the same size? Which is the smallest? Are all of the objects the same shape? Students can make up a key which could be useful to themselves or others for this map and include it. For example, all desks could be represented by squares, chairs by circles, and so on.

4. Students can start mapping. It may help to start with a few reference points such as the teacher's desk and the classroom door.

5.Rulers should be used to make straight lines and make circles, squares, and rectangles. How can they draw these objects so that the map will look like their classroom? If they show this to their parents, will they know how to locate their desk when visiting? What other information will this give to others? How could they improve the map? How can they make it look attractive?

6. Students should try to represent objects to scale.

Discussion

What reference points were the most helpful when starting to map the classroom? Why? How does a key simplify making the map? Would it be more or less work to try to capture the distinct shape of each and every piece of furniture? When might it be necessary to record each shape? How does scale help one make sense of a map?

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